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'Sword in the Stone' gets alternate opening on Blu-ray

05:00 AM, Aug 01, 2013

A never-before-seen alternate opening shows a different meeting between young War and the wizard Merlin in a new Blu-ray edition of "The Sword in the Stone."
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Written Byby Brian Truitt, USA TODAY

After 50 years, the Disney classic The Sword in the Stone still has a new part of its story to tell.

A never-before-seen storyboard for an alternate opening is a bonus feature on the Blu-ray edition of The Sword in the Stone (out Tuesday), Walt Disney’s animated take on the King Arthur legend that first opened on Christmas Day 1963. It was also the last theatrical cartoon feature released before Disney’s death three years later.

Based on the T.H. Stone novel of the same name, The Sword in the Stone took the young orphan Wart  the long-lost son of King Uther  on a quest that introduced him to the wise old wizard Merlin (and a heap of talking animals) and led him to his ultimate destiny: to pull the legendary sword from a stone and take his rightful place as king of England.

When the movie opens Uther is dead and the strange sword shows up in the middle of London; meanwhile, Wart is in the woods with his foster brother Kay. During a hunting excursion, Kay misses a deer and Wart goes to retrieve the arrow, leading him to find Merlin’s cottage.

In the alternate opening on the Blu-ray, however, the evil witch Madam Mim sends a raven to seek out the lost prince Arthur. During their hunting trip, Kay lets Wart shoot an arrow, the raven seizes it in midair and Kay orders Wart to go get it. The raven draws him deep into the forest so the witch and the Black Knight can get Wart in their clutches, but Merlin ends up rescuing him.

The Sword in the Stone Blu-ray also includes a piece on the music of the film plus a singalong feature.